Debian is run by volunteer developers from around the world and produces an operating system comprised enitirely of free and open source software.

"It is, if you like, an alternative to Microsoft Windows, but with the advantage of having many thousands of software
packages bundled with it, all of which are free to use and to extend," Malcolm said.
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He said Debian-Lex would "provide a pre-configured
operating system designed specifically for use in legal practice. Our
aim is that it will not only sit on lawyers' desktops, but
also in their accounts departments, on their office servers,
and be used in court registries."

Apart from the input by all the developers involved in its parent project, there are three qualified lawyers involved in the Debian-Lex project, giving it a mix of expert legal and IT input into its development.

Last year, the Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court of Victoria issued a practice note stating that
lawyers should consider how to expedite legal cases using
technological tools. A key feature of those rules was the new right
for a lawyer to "demand that other parties deliver court documents in
electronic format".

Malcolm said there were many proprietary software packages designed for use in legal practice. "Most of these packages do not interoperate. It is rarely that the packages in use by one firm can exchange information seamlessly with packages in use by another firm, or those
in use by a court," he said.

Proprietary document formats often cannot be used by other systems. This problem
was recognised in the Victorian Court's practice note, which had to
specify minimum document standards such as ASCII text so that
electronic documents could be used by the other party.

On the other hand, open source software generally relies upon stardardised or open file formats, the specifications of which can be
utilised by any system, including proprietary ones. "One of our main aims for Debian-Lex is to increase interoperability of legal
software," said Malcolm.

There is sometimes a perception that open source software is of lower
quality than the offerings of the big name companies. However, Malcolm
claimed that open source software was often the best available. "This
is so because it can draw on the talents of a much wider community of
developers than proprietary software," he said.

Open source software also allows the modification of the system to
suit the user's needs. "Many lawyers have been caught out when support
for specialised proprietary software they are using has been withdrawn
by its developer, or the developer has gone out of business. The use
of free, open source software reduces this concern," Malcolm said.

He said Debian-Lex hoped "to provide a framework for
various software packages to access and maintain a central database of
client and matter information." The system will also provide
specialist legal packages, such as "a tool to check for conflicts of
interest, and various tools to search and manipulate legal transcripts
and pleadings".

Debian-Lex is still in the development stage. It is hoped that the first release will conicide with Debian's next major release, Sarge.